Tubing and catheter misconnections are a serious problem in hospitals. One type of tube and catheter misconnection error involves enteral feeding tubes and intravenous catheters. Enteral feeding tubes are used to administer liquid nutritional solutions and medications directly to a patient's gastrointestinal system. In contrast, intravenous catheters are used to administer liquid nutritional solutions and medications directly to a patient's vascular system. Patients may be harmed if feeding solutions are administered intravenously and vice versa. Errors such as this occur because of medical professionals using similar or identical tubing for different purposes. For example, luer tips, including luer-lock components, contribute to many of these errors because they enable functionally dissimilar tubes or catheters to be connected. In other words, a luer tip may be inserted improperly into a connector or adaptor of a feeding tube, with potential harmful results.
Connectors for different medical equipment may be given different sizes to avoid unintended connection. For example, an enteral feeding system may be sized for oral tip connection. Male oral tip connectors will not make ready connection with female luer connectors, such as commonly found for intravenous use. Typically, male luer tip connectors would not be able to make sealing connection with a female oral connector.